Introduced by Rep. Fred Miller (D) on May 13, 2008To mandate binding arbitration in labor negotiations between county corrections officers (jail guards) and their employers. Official Text and Analysis.

Referred to the House Labor Committee on May 13, 2008

Reported in the House on June 10, 2008Without amendment and with the recommendation that the bill pass.

Amendment offered by Rep. Fred Miller (D) on June 26, 2008To revise the binding arbitration procedures to allow posthearing briefs in addition to oral arguments in support of an arbitration order.

The amendment passed by voice vote in the House on June 26, 2008

Amendment offered by Rep. Fred Miller (D) on June 26, 2008To eliminate a redundant qualification to the term "any county corrections facility".

The amendment passed by voice vote in the House on June 26, 2008

Amendment offered by Rep. David Agema (R) on June 26, 2008To tie-bar the bill to House Bill 4213, meaning this bill cannot become law unless that one does also. HB 4213 would revise the law that provides for binding arbitration in labor disputes between municipalities and police or firefighter unions so as to allow the arbitrator to impose a settlement that falls somewhere between the last offer of the employer or the last demand of the union. Under current law the arbitrator must choose between those two options, and may not craft a compromise.

The amendment failed by voice vote in the House on June 26, 2008

Amendment offered by Rep. David Agema (R) on June 26, 2008To require a corrections contract binding arbitration panel to consider the ability of the public employer to afford the contract over the next five years or longer; require consideration of the public employer's unfunded liabilities (such as post-retirement employee health care benefits); prohibit consideration of the employer's ability to levy higher property taxes or requiring the employer to redirect tax revenue used for other government purposes to cover the increased wages ordered by the arbitration panel; and to not order compensation that exceeds a caps based on inflation rates or the proportion of the public employer's budget that goes to this purpose.